Calamian Group: Diving in History

For some time since I was hooked in the blue world, exploring a wreck has been a major highlight in my dive trips. Just as I love history, wrecks are akin to museums holding important artifacts, stories and information. What is more interesting is it is out there in the depths in silence, barely visited and untouched by human hands.

I believe there are places meant for another visit, those kinds that you will never get tired coming over and over again. For me, Coron lured my inner senses more that its pieces of paradise on the surface – but the secrets in its depths! We explored almost all of the wrecks in Coron Bay, yet there are still reasons to be back in Calamianes. So, last October I took leave from work, booked tickets, packed my gears and head to Busuanga undaunted of the coming typhoon. Leaving office earlier than usual, taking things slow, having booked for the late night flight. I was alone in the shuttle heading for the airport, which I found comforting as I watch the night scenery on the road to Laguindingan silently. Even at past 10PM, the terminal was still teeming with people.

Welcome to Busuanga

I had a long wait for my flight the next morning, the cheery weather welcomed me as the Dornier taxied on the airstrip amidst the greeneries of the Yulo King ranch. But I had another long wait though for Angel whose flight was in mid-day. Unlike our previous trips, we headed for Brgy Decalachao which is about seven kilometers away, the northern part of the town. Our hosts in The Riverhouse welcomed us warmly, Mr. H’s reception trick was kind of ceremonial and perfectly gave us warm smiles as we step on watching the grand view form the terrace! 🙂

The remaining hours was for some good rest to compensate for my sleepless night, our large comfortable cottage was just perfect then. Our sumptuous dinner was even more to our liking. So, it was sleep and eat kind of relaxing for the rest of the day, such indulge. I felt spoiled in some way. The Riverhouse was a perfect refuge in our get-away. I might add that the lavish environs engulfed me – mangroves, river view, mountain view over the wide horizon, lush vegetations and peaceful silence. The stillness of the night peppered with cicadas singing, more beautiful and relaxing than the booming videoke in the downtown area. 🙂

Pure, Idyllic and World Away

The next morning was cloudy but not a deterrent for our exploring the quiet and laid-back side of Busuanga. Wrecks always thrilled me and I was hoping for discoveries again as I always expected. The port was just down the house garden over the steep pathway, our small boat was already waiting for us when we got there. We had a river cruise over the vast mangroves, the tranquil scenery was a good start as I remembered my childhood days in the Agusan River back home. Towards the river end to the open sea was the immaculate dive boat of Dugong Dive Center docked near a coastal community, we transferred, met our DM and finally headed for the bay. The other side of Luzon was greatly disturbed by a typhoon but our location was perfectly calm, the waters flat and mild breeze blowing.

The only wreck in the area lies near an uninhabited Dimalanta Islet at the north coast of Busuanga, Kyokusan Maru which is a 136 meters cargo ship of the Japanese imperial army was like the others, it sunk in September 1944 now lying more than 70 years underwater. Other ships anchored in the area was believed to have remained afloat and managed to escape the raid of US troops. This wreck was sunk on the north side of Busuanga Island and, because of its distance to the other wrecks the Coron dive operations don’t make this trip very often. The wreck lists about 10° to starboard and has a compass bearing of 160°.

Our first descent was at port of the wreck, going down to the mast at 16 meters now fully covered with corals, over the deck area and to cargo room. I barely noticed the fish life except for the giant bat fish that tried to get near us. You can still see the remains of trucks and cars in the cargo holds. The wreck is still almost intact and quite easy to penetrate. We found the fossilized truck, its chassis, and tires; we inspected also the machine gun platform fossilized and full decorated with corals. We went our deepest at 31.6 meters lingering over the deck area covered with corals. I have always loved the mystery and the stories behind this piece of history. Although I still wanted to linger, my 43 minutes was good enough considering the depth, I signaled for surface when my NDL went down to 2 minutes!

Our surface interval was spent for our light lunch and hearing the stories of our DM. It was a relaxing break embracing the stillness of the surroundings.

Our last descent was still at Kyokusan Maru exploring its bow end, as suggested by our DM taking advantage of the flat waters, going to another site could be with choppy conditions. They always recommend at least two dives in this wreck to cover at least major attractions, it depth can never allow longer bottom time. Going down again to the mast and went inside a hole in the right wall into some dark chambers. We lingered over the bow area all covered and fossilized with corals, some bivalves quickly snapped close as we passed. We sighted few nudis, puffers, chromis, damsels, anthias, crinoids and feather stars. We lingered until my NDL was down to 1 minute! I had forty minutes at 31.6 meters as deepest. 🙂 The two dives had been another discovery and learning opportunity, again it was a mind blowing experience.

We had our river cruise again when we got back to our house.

History Treasures

Diving on a WWII wreck helps us connect to our heritage and gain insight into our past. When our favorite diving environments host a piece of history, it’s our duty as a scuba diver to honor this gift. It is fortunate that in the country’s depths lies and had share of WW II wrecks, not all sites held such piece of history. Our affair in Coron has not ended, other wrecks lie farther (like at Black Island) and it is a reason to be back again.

Travel Notes:

Transport to the north is rare and expensive, public utilities from Coron have specific schedule which likely are filled from the town

Decalachao Port is for boats heading to Club Paradise in Dimakya Island and El Rio y Mar in San Jose – two exclusive resorts in the area.

There are two available dive shops in the area – Dugong Dive Center and Club Paradise.